A moment passed, and Wang Lin’s gaze hardened with resolve. He raised his right hand, a spectral finger extended toward the demon soul bottle. Instantly, a cacophony of tormented wails erupted from within, a sound so piercing it seemed to tear through the veil of reality, assaulting Wang Lin’s very essence.

“The flicker of a firefly dares challenge the brilliance of the moon!” Wang Lin scoffed, his voice reverberating like a wave, crashing against the mournful cries in a symphony of echoes.

Then, a torrent of black mist spewed from the demon soul bottle, writhing with the forms of ancient demon spirits. They roared in desperate agony within their shadowy prison, and the moment they were released, they lunged forward, a spectral tide seeking to engulf Wang Lin.

His expression remained calm. As the demon souls descended upon him, he raised both hands, sweeping them outward with ferocious power. A gale of wind howled into existence, engulfing the tormenting spirits and trapping them within his grasp.

“Art of the Dao, Convergence!” Wang Lin spoke with a chilling serenity.

As the words left his lips, an otherworldly light ignited within his eyes. He unleashed the Convergence Dao Art, a forbidden technique passed down from the ancient Daoist, Blue Dream. Explosions echoed within the cavern as the demon souls, now bound together, cried out in torment, desperate to escape their prison. But Wang Lin’s hands remained steadfast, an unyielding cage.

He closed his eyes, focusing every ounce of his being on the art of convergence. The demon souls were slowly melded together by his power, the passage of time marked only by their screams. Seven days slipped by in this manner.

Throughout those days, Wang Lin pressed on, his concentration unbroken. On the seventh day, the demon souls had become a single, swirling mass. Suddenly, an eerie light pulsed within the mass, growing brighter with each passing moment until it threatened to engulf the entire cavern.

A surge of primal energy exploded from the swirling sphere, accompanied by a single, monstrous roar – the unified voices of countless damned souls.

“To refine the blood of the ancient demons is an impossibility!!”

“Blood Refinement!” Wang Lin’s eyes snapped open. Without hesitation, he bit his tongue, spraying a mouthful of crimson blood upon the swirling sphere. This blood carried the essence of his very being, the lifeblood of an ancient god!

The sphere pulsed with a surge of despair, the screams grew louder, and the sphere threatened to collapse in upon itself.

The eerie light within began to fade, replaced by a crimson hue that slowly consumed the entire sphere. After what seemed an eternity, the sphere was completely bathed in blood.

Wang Lin released a sigh of relief. He reached out and grasped the demon soul bottle, flooding it with his elemental power. Another torrent of black mist, filled with demon souls, poured forth, only to be instantly devoured by the crimson sphere.

“Within this ancient demon treasure lies the essence of three thousand ancient demon souls. By merging them, I can forge my own demon avatar!” With a flick of his sleeve, the mist that filled the cavern gathered around him, swallowing him whole and forming a swirling vortex of darkness.

Time slipped away as Wang Lin continued to refine the demon souls. A month passed.

With less than a moon remaining until the selection ceremony, Wang Lin had been secluded in the realm of the dark scorpion clan for over two moons. During those months, a significant event had unfolded in the Fallen Lands.

On a desolate, abandoned star at the edge of the Fallen Lands, an intense surge of blue flame erupted one fateful day. The flames engulfed the entire star, but quickly dissipated after a few incense sticks burning. However, that brief moment was enough to send tremors through every cultivator in the Fallen Lands who wielded the power of fire!

Whether in meditation, in flight, or in battle, every fire cultivator felt a violent shudder within their soul as the flames on the desolate star ignited. Their inner fire raged uncontrolled, threatening to burst free from their bodies.

They instinctively turned toward the desolate star, drawn to it as if summoned by some ancient power.

This anomaly sent shockwaves through the ranks of fire cultivators, especially the Fire Sparrow clan. One of their elders, the same one who had traded with Wang Lin, was meditating when his body erupted in flames, forming a fiery avian shape as it threatened to escape its form.

The Fire Sparrow clan was alerted and deemed the event a high priority. The elder ventured to the barren star, but no matter what, the elder was unable to locate the source of the flames. However, while at the desolate place, the elder was able to find a trace of the same original energy inside of the former Soul Pill.

During the same time, the upper echelon of the Fire Sparrow clan on the Tai Gu star was shocked by an event!

Those Fire Sparrow clansmen who escorted the transported treasure were waiting for their summons. They were unsure if the treasure would be considered important by the tribe.

The main star of the Tai Gu Fire Sparrow clan was covered with Fire Sparrow statues, the tallest of which touched the sky and was covered with flames.

At the base of the statue was a palace where an elder with a ruddy face sat cross-legged. He was the chief of the Fire Sparrow clan!

Before him was a drop of burning blood. The blood filled his eyes with awe.

“This is…the origin!!”

The elder immediately grabbed the blood and disappeared.

The elder appeared inside the star, which had been hollowed out and filled with flames. Even other fire cultivators would not be able to withstand the heat.
The ancient one, a flicker of crimson in the inferno, traversed the fiery labyrinth with uncanny speed. Soon, he arrived at the heart of the celestial body, where the flames themselves had coalesced into a terrifying, deep violet hue.

At the epicenter of this violet blaze, a shimmering array pulsed with arcane energy. Within its confines, a man of middle years sat in meditative repose, garbed in robes of matching violet. With each exhalation, an aura of awe-inspiring power emanated from his being.

The elder dared not breach the violet inferno. Instead, he clasped his hands together from the periphery, his voice thick with reverence. “I seek audience with the Ancestor!”

Having spoken, the elder stood motionless, awaiting summons.

After a long silence, the eyes of the man within the violet flames slowly opened. In the instant of their awakening, three bizarre marks manifested in a triangular formation upon his face – one between his eyes and one above each eye.

These were sigils of flame, each of a distinct and vibrant color. The mark upon his brow blazed violet, the one above his right eye burned blue, and the one above his left eye appeared as a mere phantom, almost nonexistent. Yet, upon closer scrutiny, a faint trace could be discerned.

This spectral fire seemed unstable, its form indistinct.

But it was precisely this ephemeral flame that sent a tremor through the elder’s soul, causing him to avert his gaze, unwilling to behold it a second time.

“Within this sacred ground, even you, Chieftain, are forbidden to tread without my express permission! Have you forgotten?” the man’s voice resonated with a tranquil power.

Sweat beaded on the elder’s brow. He nervously licked his lips and replied, his voice hushed, “Forgive my haste, Ancestor! A member of our clan has discovered a single drop of blood, possessing properties most peculiar. It requires your esteemed gaze.”

The man’s expression remained impassive, as if the affairs of heaven and earth held no power to stir him. His eyes, cold and unwavering, stood in stark contrast to the fiery glow within his pupils, lending him an unsettling air.

“Such trifles disturb your composure? I find you wanting as Chieftain! Present the blood. Begone, and observe the third tenet of our lineage. Impose the penance upon yourself.”

The elder’s face drained of color. He dared to protest, but one glance at the Ancestor ensconced in the violet inferno silenced him. He bowed his head. “As you command.” With a flick of his wrist, a single drop of burning blood appeared in his palm, levitating there. He lowered his head and began to retreat.

The man casually extended his hand, and the blood instantly pierced the violet flames, landing in his grasp. He examined the blood with indifference… until he truly looked. Then, he recoiled as if struck. His eyes widened, fixed upon the crimson droplet.

“This… this is…” The man’s composure shattered, replaced by astonishment and disbelief. He held the blood close, probing it countless times with his divine sense, the shock in his eyes deepening with each passing moment.

“Vermilion Bird Blood! This is Vermilion Bird Blood!” The man leaped to his feet, bringing the blood to his lips, tasting a single drop. His body shuddered once more.

“It is undeniable! The very essence proclaims it: Vermilion Bird Blood! The Vermilion Bird!” He cried out, his left hand clawing through the air.

The Fire Sparrow Chieftain, near to escaping the planet’s core and returning to the surface, was filled with regret. Just as he fled with haste, a great wind howled behind him. He turned, his eyes widening in terror as the fire itself coalesced into a colossal hand that seized him, dragging him back in a fiery maelstrom.

In the blink of an eye, the hand returned the elder to the periphery of the violet inferno.

“Where did you find this blood?!” Before the elder could speak, the Ancestor’s voice, fraught with emotion, crashed against him. The elder, who had never witnessed such a display from the Ancestor, stammered, “One of our clan brought it from the Fallen Lands!”

The man burst into laughter, his eyes alight with manic joy. Even the three fiery sigils blazed with renewed intensity.

“Well done, well done! You are a worthy Chieftain, as I have judged. Immediately decree that the clan, at any cost, ventures forth to the Fallen Lands to discover the source of this blood!”

The Fire Sparrow Chieftain bowed in assent, preparing to depart. The man’s eyes narrowed, suppressing his overwhelming excitement. “The Fallen Lands are beyond my reach. I will await you at the edge of those lands. Examine everything with care. This may be a trap!”